Rallisport Challenge

Anyone still playing Rallisport? I popped it in last night expecting to be a bit underwhelmed due to all the recent great looking games, but it's still right up at the top of the pack even after all this time. The environments are practically photorealistic on a HDTV. I just wanted to throw a shout out to this game, because it doesn't get nearly enough respect.

On a side note, maybe Microsoft has the wrong strategy in mind when it comes to third parties. Instead of throwing cash at developers, why not give them some programming assistance? Think about how much better Ghost Recon and Morrowind would be if they used Rallisport's engine to render the outdoor environments. Bump mapping, rock solid 60FPS, ridiculous draw distance, incredible vegitation...

I still play Rallisport quite a bit...the classic mode, or whatever the last one is, is a very good challenge. Partly because the pace notes suck...but the courses are very challenging. The game has some outstanding course design. I love all of the courses that twist through the mountains especially. Fantastic fun.

The Rallisport sequel online should be terrific...hopefully I'll have broadband availability by that time. I used to play DICE's previous rally game for the PC, Rally Masters, online and it was great great great fun, even though not that many people bought that game.

Ohh yeah. They're out there...I don't think there are too many of the cult's members here at this forum, though. Try mentioning any racing game at forums like IGN or Team Xbox, for example, and they appear like flies on shit.

I think Rallisport is the most realistic looking driving game out there, it's the game that made me want an Xbox. I suspect the reason some people think GT3 looks better (aside from the fanboy factor) is because the color saturation in RS is kind of low. It's more realistic, but it's not as eye-catching, IMO.

I played RS religiously after I got my Xbox, I worked my way through 75% of the game before I suddenly got bored. There's just not enough variety in the game, the tracks are too flat, as if they've all been perfectly graded.

Despite RS's graphic superiority, I went back to WRC on the PS2, and decided that for me, it's a better game. 14 countries, each country required a different driving style to conquer. The roads throw all kind of irregular bumpy surfaces at you. Course design is stellar.

I'm eagerly awaiting the sequels to both of these games. WRC II is already out in Europe...but I've seen nothing about a US release And then there's CMR3, which is only ~2 weeks away (for the Xbox)!!

Nobody seems to know. Before someone mentions that there are already wheels out for the Xbox, "good" means to us that it has to have force feedback. Once you've used one there's no going back to anything less.

I've mentioned before here that I emailed Logitech about releasing one, and they replied that Microsoft will not let them release a wheel with force feedback! Microsoft sent me a form letter when I asked them about it.

I almost forgot about the new rally season, I'll have to remember to tune in to the Speed Channel.

Someone ought to make an adaptor. I'd think it would be easy since the Xbox controller ports are USB to begin with. I'm not sure if you'd get force feedback, but I suspect that you would. With the GT Force, even games that aren't even supposed to work with it have some force feedback(Twisted Metal, TXR Zero).

IMO, yes, both RS and WRC are much more arcade than sim. My take is that between the two RS is slightly more sim in the car handling, whereas WRC is more sim when it comes to car damage. In WRC you can seriously cripple you car, but it always runs...in RS the cars are indestructable, but neither takes their sim elements too seriously.

IMO, WRC is just more fun. The cars are highly responsive, you can filp them through hairpins, gunning the engine to grip the road out of turns. It's a little easier to lose control in RS, especially on dirt or ice. As I said above, the tracks themselves are really nice in WRC. Each country has a track style, Australia has dusty dirt roads, with flat wide lanes perfect for powersliding. Italy is a blast, on paved, undulating snake-like one lane roads. Great Britain is tough, with narrow convex gravel pathways. Most tracks have bumps and dips that keep you on your toes as the car bounces along.

The tracks in RS are all very flat (not in elevation, but in surface features and irregularities), and roughly the same width, like they were engineered by Germans. They also dont vary much between geographic regions. A dirt track in the Pacific Northwest is suspiciously similar to drive on as a hillclimb up a mountainside.

One place where WRC falls short of RS is in the off-road dept. If you tread very far off road in WRC, you slow down termendously, which is irritating. Also, the game makes errors in when it decides to return you to the track...whereas RS allows you to return to track with a button, which is a better way of doing it.

WRC wins on sound, the engines sound more satisfying. Amazingly, in WRC you can get a good idea of what kind of traction you're tires are getting by listening to them, there's a good deal of feedback via sound about your grip (sliding, squealing, spinning, etc), which is cool.

One huge difference between these games is that RS has rallycross which lets you race against other cars. WRC follows the official WRC rules in that it's a time trial, you against times set by other drivers. I actually like the time-trial aspect, but if you want to race against other cars, WRC won't give that to you.

Don't get me wrong, both these games are fun, and RS is a pure joy to look at. I just found myself going back to WRC more...even atfer playing WRC for months before getting RS, I still play WRC more often.